Jay E. Tria's Blog, page 9

Author Interview: Miren B. Flores

Miren B. Flores’ debut work Loveless. Childless. Clueless. broke my heart and mended it a thousand times over, all in a span of a hundred-plus pages. I read the book in only a few hours, drowning in feelings as I did so. When I came up for air at the end of it, my heart and my brain were both demanding a discussion with the author about that ending! GAH. Then I composed myself and asked her the following questions instead. Hehe. Thanks Miren for indulging me! We talked about firstborn books, writing that ending, and choices (Krav Maga hottie or old flame??). She also shared a Joni Mitchell performance that got me bleeding on the floor. Miren is mean.  1. I realize that first books are often birthed out of the strangest impulses. This being your firstborn – as you like to call it too – what was the insistent tick or the catalyst that got you to sit down and write this story? I was having a shitty month and was thisclose to some serious wallowing. Mina V. Esguerra (Queen of Feels) gave me a copy of her #romanceclass textbook and it was a lifeline. I wrote at night, after work, to […]

Author Interview and Playlist: Bianca Mori

I first knew of the Takedown series when Peyton Riley came out. Bianca Mori got me from the first line of the blurb–not to get Liam Neeson on your asses–but when I found out it was a trilogy, I decided to wait for the last book. Yeah my EQ is that frail. Anyway, wait I did, and it was a good call. I came out of that thrilling ride with my head bursting with questions for the author, and it was very kind of Bianca to take the time to answer them. Read on as we talk about the dream to go around Europe, the challenge of writing romantic suspense and flawed characters, and the question of straight-laced cop versus sly art dealer. Bianca shares a stellar, cool/sleazy playlist too! 1. Was romantic suspense something that you’ve always wanted to write? What was the most challenging thing about going from contemporary romance to this genre? It just kind of happened! I love reading suspense and I love romance, so when I got the prompt for the Love’s A Beach bundle to do a story set in a beach, I just had this plot bunny that ‘what if neither the MC or LI are what […]

Review and Excerpts: Maybe This Time by C.P. Santi

I’ve always thought of C.P. Santi‘s writing as this delicious balance of sassy, sweet, and juice-out-of-your-nose funny. She has an innate grip on the culture of both countries she calls home, and that’s something that seeps out of her work (see Be Careful What You Wish For and When Cocoy Became Kikay). She brings all of these in her new book of short stories Maybe This Time, together with a couple of new aces, as she writes about second chance romance.  An accidental reunion . . . a sneaky plot . . . things finally falling into place. Maybe This Time contains three heart-warming stories of love and second chances. Because when fate gives you a break, you grab the chance to finally make things right. In Sweeter by the Second, when paintings conservator Rina David arrives for the Arts Festival in the heritage town of Jimenez, she’s reunited with Tony, the guy she once loved and lost. Now vice-mayor of Jimenez, Tony wants Rina back in his life and will do everything he can to convince her that they belong together. Pamela Quiroz hatches a plot to get her parents back together in Exorcising my Ex. But will a romantic Valentine’s […]

Author Interview: C.P. Santi

One of my favorite authors C.P. Santi has a new book, a collection of short stories about love and second chances aptly called Maybe This Time. Release week is currently happening, and to show my support, and also as an excuse to do some cyber-chika because I miss her, I’ve sent a few questions her way. Read on as we talk about her new book of romantic and insightful shorts, writing about love and older characters, Arne as Alex Skargard, Barney songs as writing music, and an exciting sneak peek of her upcoming work. 1. Apart from the shorter format, the theme of these stories is quite different from the ones in BCWYWF and WCBK. What pushed you to write them? Hindi naman si JLC at Bea? (hehehe) Haven’t seen the second movie yet *cries* Anyway, I wrote Sweeter by the Second (for #TalesFromTheMetro) first, and at that time, Mina sounded a call for both setting-based stories and older MCs. I’ve always wanted to write about older characters (partly because I’m kind of in the same age group), and I tried doing that in Be Careful What You Wish For. But this time, I wanted to write about characters who’ve loved and lost. […]

Review: Scandalized by Tara Frejas

Let me just put it out there. Scandalized by Tara Frejas spoke to my sleeping K-pop/K-drama fangirl heart. It has admittedly been too long since I last indulged in a good 20-plus-episode binge or boy band concert spectacle (because time and oh my gosh the expense). But fandoms such as these don’t really ever leave you. You only need one push, a small spark to reignite the madness–and Scandalized was just that. Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea’s hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn’t. When she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and a hostile fangirl witch hunt, Fi seeks the comfort of home, and to her surprise, not the person she had been pining for for years. All too suddenly it’s no longer her career on the line, but also her heart. Will she walk away from everything that matters to her or fight to keep her dream alive? Anyone who’s ever been a fan of Korean idols is likely to nod in quick understanding upon reading the blurb. It’s all very familiar–the pretty, untouchable boys, the crazy saesang fans, the endless stream of Internet […]

#romanceclass Podcast Extra: Interview with Chris Mariano, Author of Cover (Story) Girl

The season may be over but we still have extras coming your way. Get inside the head of the authors of the books (heh only if you’re sure you want to) with the author interviews. Here we’ve got Chris Mariano, author of Cover (Story) Girl. She talks about her love for Boracay, the awesome surprises of hearing her work read, and her feelings about Gio reading Gio

#romanceclass Podcast Episode 10: In Over Her Head by Anne Plaza

I was quite fortunate to have been there the first time Gio Gahol read as Richard and Rachel Coates read as Erika from Anne Plaza‘s In Over Her Head. It was in this small rectangular room. Twenty of us, more or less, were crowded around a narrow table, with glasses of cold water to sustain us. In front of the room, seated as casually as if they were only reading aloud text messages were Gio and Rachel. They delivered the words and brought the scene to life with all the sentiment and heartbreak they could fit into those nine minutes. I don’t think I was the only one who had chills crawling up her arms when they finished. Read up on the story’s synopsis below, then scroll further down to catch the podcast episode. All she wants is to get even… Erika Apostol’s quiet and unassuming life gets disrupted when she learns that Richard Javier, the very same person who broke her heart many years ago, is now back in the country. Her world is turned upside down as old feelings she thought were buried resurface to haunt her once more. Determined to give Richard a dose of his own medicine, Erika finds […]

#romanceclass Podcast Episode 9: The Kitchen When It Sizzles by Chrissie Peria

If you’re a fan of Chrissie Peria‘s The Kitchen When It Sizzles *waves hands enthusiastically*, you would be very familiar with this excerpt. This is the one with Adam Levine, coffee as cold as yesterday’s soup stock, a colorful weekend market, and the Talk. Nate is here too. Oh Nate. Read on for more context, then click the video featuring Rachel Coates as Olivia, and Gio Gahol as Nate. Enjoy the feelings! Olivia Nadal is an almost perfect girl with an almost perfect life. She has stunning good looks, an exciting job that pays well, men lining up to date her, and a homey little condo she calls her own. The only thing keeping her from perfection is her utter inability to cook. Enter Nate Olivarez, a hotshot chef who’s filling in for Olivia’s cooking instructor. Sparks fly when they meet, but a fling with the visiting hottie is the last thing Olivia needs. But as things keep heating up in the kitchen, she can’t help but wonder. Can things work out between her and Nate? Or is the sizzle all set to fizzle? Click here to own the entire #romanceclass podcast season! And here to subscribe to the #romanceclass podcast. The podcast Season 2 […]

Review: Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis

I think I was successfully seduced by the concept of this film because of my Heneral Luna and Honor Thy Father feelings. I was carefully excited for the experience, aware that more than the cost of the ticket (P500 in Glorietta, twice the price of a regular two-hour flick), the bigger gamble was the opportunity cost of my time and energy. A whole work day’s worth of time and energy, to be precise. After eight hours and two 20-minute breaks in between, I came out of the theater with sore limbs and a mind that felt like it was instructed to run a distance it wasn’t quite ready for. Did I think the film was worth it? Yes. Do I fully understand why? Not yet. Maybe I never will. Maybe that’s the magic of that film. I try to articulate more of my thoughts and feelings below: It made me want to revisit Rizal‘s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Piolo Pascual played Ibarra/Simoun, while John Lloyd Cruz was Isagani. I had to grasp at scraps of my high school Filipino and Kasaysayan memories, trying to piece their backstory together. But my incomplete recollections didn’t keep me from enjoying Piolo and JLC’s performance. They were […]

#AprilFeelsDay: Here Have My Feelings

I wasn’t there in 2013. If I was, I would have been able to see how the seeds of feels that the pioneer #romanceclass lovingly planted then have sprouted branches in many directions and blossomed into these Things that are happening now. I mean, we know we’re not yet convention hall levels (although we’ve joked about that) or quit-day-job-suck-it-boss levels (wish). But can you imagine how wonderful it is that before there was just one person and one class, and some three years later, one hot, sticky April summer day looked like this? Look at our version of (mini) RT16 chaos that was us at #AprilFEELSDay! We were full house today! So so happy! Photo from @dementedchris A photo posted by April (@iambinibini) on Apr 17, 2016 at 7:28am PDT That’s got to count for something, right?